


The Serpent Numbs Us

by Matterofhope



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Canon Compliant, Hal Emmerich - Freeform, M/M, Mention of Character Death, Otacon - Freeform, Raiden - Freeform, its pretty similar just with some gay added, kevin washington - Freeform, mention of vamp, old snake - Freeform, raiden admires snake alot, raiden lowkey is pinning, solid snake - Freeform, vamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25997269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matterofhope/pseuds/Matterofhope
Summary: A glimpse into Raiden’s head as Snake leaves behind an impression on him (and Radien realizes a few things he hadn’t before.)
Relationships: Otacon/Solid Snake, Raiden/Kevin Washington, Raiden/Solid Snake
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Metal Gear Solid - Summer Games -2020





	The Serpent Numbs Us

Raiden paced in the elevator. He ripped off his mask as It ascended quickly.

Campbell’s voice came through the codec. “The terrorists call themselves Son of Liberty” 

“Sons of Liberty?” Raiden asked.

“The name of their leader is Solid Snake,” Campbell added. 

Raiden felt his chest tighten at the words “The hero of Shadow Moses?!” he couldn't believe it. Snake was briefly used beforehand as an example of a model soldier. 

“So that's why you changed my name….” 

“Right. But it can't be _the_ Solid Snake. He died two years ago on that tanker after he blew it sky-high.” 

Raiden hid behind a crate “Could he have survived?” 

“Not a chance,” Roy responded. 

_‘Was Solid Snake the man that the media painted him to be? Did he actually sink the tanker?_

_No. No, he's...he's a good guy. An...An honorable soldier.’_

_‘Right?’_

~

As if his nerves weren’t getting to him enough already. He turned a corner and readied his gun when he noticed a body on the floor.

It must have been fresh. No signs of deterioration, no smell, the blood was still dripping from the man’s wounds. 

He approached the door closer, he heard gunshots from the other side. 

Raiden got closer and it slid open with ease. 

He walked through the entrance, catching a man sucking at a soldier's throat. If it weren’t for the bodies, the gunshots, Raiden would have thought these two men were just lovers. Hiding from the rest. 

This man must have had inhuman speed. One second Raiden was staring him in the face; the next minute the man wasn't there any longer. 

Just when the blood-sucking creature was going to come after him. A soldier rushed in, yelling at Raiden to get down. 

The Soldier fired probably half a magazine, trying to get at least _one_ bullet through the man who seemingly wasn’t human.

“Where is he?” the Soldier grunted, pointing his AK in every possible direction. 

Raiden became the audience to what was going on. 

All of a sudden the Soldier got spooked, the gun flying out of his hands. He got pinned against the wall, with the creature looming over his neck. 

Raiden could see the gears turning in the freak’s head, questioning whether or not to sink his teeth into the Soldier's flesh. The creature spoke a few words as if trying to figure out _who_ this man was. 

Then the soldier’s body fell to the floor. Raiden snapped out of it. 

In some sort of telepathic agreement. While still on his belly, the Soldier slid him a magazine. 

As soon as Raiden loaded and cocked the gun. The creature was gone. 

With _him_ gone, Raiden now switched focus on the soldier.

The man noticed there was now a gun pointed at him, “Hold on, I'm not an enemy. Calm down.” The soldier slid his body to lean up against a cage. 

He started to introduce himself as ‘Iroquois Pliskin.’ Although Raiden barely caught it. As he was more focused on the sound of his voice. 

“....Lieutenant Junior Grade.” he ripped off his mask. Revealing brown hair with strands of blond. It was cut in some sort of a mullet. Short in the front, long in the back. Normally it would look hideous especially in 2009. However, it worked on this ‘Iroquois’. It paired nicely with his green eyes and the stubble forming on his jawline. 

“Are you a Navy seal?” Raiden asked. 

Pliskin didn’t respond. 

“How did you get in?” 

Pliskin eyed him. “Fast road descent from a Navy chopper.” 

“Have I seen you before?” Raiden’s gun quivered as he noticed Pliskin’s eyes were scaling his body. 

Turns out he was just curious about Raiden’s suit and its origins. 

Raiden then asked him questions that he seemed to have all the answers to. Not only did he do _that_ , but when Raiden revealed he was trained in VR. Nearly 300 missions (he likes to add.) Pliskin said it wasn't real, ‘it's all mind control.’ 

The nail in the coffin was Pliskin saying Solid Snake was dead. Dead along with what little hope Raiden had that Snake _had_ survived. 

Pliskin held out a pack of cigarettes “Here, take this.”

Raiden shook his head “I don’t smoke.”

“Keep it anyway. Might come in handy.” 

Just as he was about to leave; Pliskin spoke up. “What's your name?” 

Raiden _almost_ wanted to say ‘Jack.’ He just knew he shouldn't. 

“Raiden.” 

~ 

Raiden watched as Snake affirmed his ‘friend’ Otacon. 

Emma's body laid only a few feet away from where they stood. Raiden could see the pain in Snake’s eyes. 

“I should be going with you…” Otacon said. 

Snake approached him “You've got your job, we’ve got ours.” 

Otacon dropped his head “You mean...I’d only get in your way…” 

“Wrong.” Snake closed the distance between them “Only _you_ could save those hostages.” He gripped him by the shoulders “Got it?” 

Otacon looked up at him with so much hope, as if Snake’s words healed him. “Right.”

They both nodded in a mutual agreement. Otacon regained some sort of confidence after that. He started explaining to Raiden and Snake to just ‘eliminate the enemy’. It was the only way. 

They strutted to the elevator doors. The bird then echoed Emma’s words. 

Otacon crumbled again, banging his head on the wall. The remorse he must feel for losing his sister. The regret and guilt of not being in contact with her all these years. 

Once again, Snake didn't hesitate to give him confidence in the form of physical contact. This time it was a handshake. Tailored to them. An original. 

They ended it with a hug. 

Their eyes were shut, they both lingered a bit longer than usual. This could have been in place of a goodbye kiss; Or a way to speak words without actually talking. Another way of saying ‘Stay safe’ or ‘Good luck’ to each other. 

Although they could use nano communication, physical contact was something that was precious. A rare thing to share with another person. At least in this fashion. 

“I’m counting on you, Otacon,” Snake told him. 

And there he went. Snake watched him until he was out of sight. It was seemingly clear to Raiden now; that Otacon meant more to Snake than he thought. 

~ 

“This never was going to work out for us was it?” 

Over the years Raiden had gotten used to the sound of his voice. How his vocal cords sounded machine-like, just like the rest of him. 

Snake’s voice changed too. More gravely. More aged, It matched his outer state. 

“Raiden…” Snake grumbled, “what do you mean?” 

Raiden laid in the medical bed. The sound of machinery was all that occupied the room. I guess now he was a part of that machinery. They were one and the same. 

Raiden thought about it “I'm not sure what it was….the feelings I had for you. Infatuation, love, or admiration. I never knew for sure.” 

Snake sat down on a stool not too far from him. “And?” he was too tired to beat around the bush. 

“I guess a part of me thought we’d make it. Maybe not _together_...but that we’d make it.” he tried sitting up until he felt Snake’s hand on his chest. 

Snake looked down at him and muttered a “Don't sit up.” Raiden nodded and did what he was told. 

He patted himself for what Raiden could only assume was his cigarettes. Must have been a mindless gesture. He was so used to the smokes being on his person. 

Snake coughed when he found none. “What's your point?” 

Raiden thought about what he would say next “I guess I wanted us to live as men. I wanted to find my own future.” 

“You still can do that.” Snake responded.

“No.” Raiden said, “it's too late for me.” 

The older man rolled his eyes. What Raiden remembers being green was now an icy blue. 

“Bullshit. You still have your life ahead of you.” Snake scoffs “Me, however? I'm an old dog. I'm out to pasture. This is it for me.” 

“You’ve still accomplished more in life than me,” Raiden muttered. 

“Raiden.” Snake raised his voice slightly. 

“I’m right. From day one you were a role model to me. An example to follow.”

Snake was hesitant to ask. “And how about now _?"_

“You still are.” 

Snake grumbled, standing up “….thanks, kid.” 

“No problem.” Raiden shut his eyes. 

Just before Snake let Raiden have his slumber, he grumbled out a few words. “Don’t die on me.” 

“You either, Snake.” 

~ 

“So Raiden,” Kevin asks “who was this that told you to go find your own name, before you stopped going by ‘Jack’?” 

The words had been engraved in Raiden’s brain for the last nine years. He can still hear them perfectly as if he just heard them yesterday. 

_“You can find your own name...and your own future.”_

_“...Decide for myself?”_

_“And whatever you choose will be you.”_

“The one and only Solid Snake.” Raiden finally answers “The hero of Outer Heaven, Zanzibar, Shadow Moses. The list goes on.” 

“Right, right, the guys a legend. I forgot you knew him so well.” Kevin responds. 

“Yeah. When I say it was a real pleasure to know him, I mean it. He saved my ass at Big Shell, not to mention a few times after that. He’s one of the greatest soldiers I've ever seen. He knows what’s right, and he just gets it done. Period. No one can stop him.” 

He remembers Snake’s stubbornness and his pure determination to finish his fight. 

“I've...learned a lot from him… and he’d kill if he heard me talking about him like this.” 

“Wow, I didn’t know you were such a fanboy. I thought you were going to start crying there for a sec.” Kev chuckled. 

Raiden scoffed. “Very funny, Kev. Forget it.” 

“Hey, relax! I’m only messing with you. I just wish I got to meet the guy, you know?” 

“He’s the greatest soldier who ever lived. Who _wouldn't_ want to meet him.” Raiden said. 

Kev went quiet “too bad he’s gone now, huh?” 

“Yeah.” Raiden paused “The world has suffered a great loss….but I want to tell future generations about what he did. Getting rid of Metal Gears, saving the world. I need to share everything he did, and everything that he taught me." 

Kev grinned “Sounds like a plan.” 

_~_

_“What am I going to leave behind when I’m through?”_

_“We tell other people about... having faith. What we had faith in. What we found important enough to fight for. It's not about whether you were right or wrong. But how much faith you were willing to have, that decides the future.”_

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! It was a bit different of a fic, but I hope this was worth your time.


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